Boston Tech Watch: Akamai HQ, HubSpot Book, DraftKings, More

Share

This week, we’re tracking the latest news about Akamai’s headquarters, Massachusetts daily fantasy sports regulations, a controversial book about HubSpot, a new robotics startup from former Kiva Systems executives, and an acquisition of a local cloud software startup. Read on for details.

—Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey released rules regulating the daily fantasy sports industry here, including measures intended to protect less experienced participants and increase transparency. Boston-based DraftKings called the new regulations “tough,” but said it would comply, as did New York-based FanDuel.

The new rules bring some certainty for the companies in Massachusetts, as they face legal challenges in other states, including New York.

—Anticipating the need for more space, Cambridge, MA-based Akamai spent a year deciding where to put its headquarters. And it’s staying put in Kendall Square, according to the Boston Business Journal. The question now is whether it will consolidate its local employees to one space in Cambridge, or renew its current leases.

—Boston-based robotics startup 6 River Systems said it raised $6 million in seed funding, led by Seth Winterroth of California-based early-stage venture fund Eclipse, with participation by iRobot. 6 River Systems is developing mobile robots to automate order fulfillment processes at warehouses owned by e-commerce and retail companies.

The company was founded last year by Jerome Dubois, Rylan Hamilton, and Christopher Cacioppo. Dubois and Hamilton previously were executives with Kiva Systems, the warehouse robotics company acquired by Amazon in 2012.

—Verilume, a Boston startup that makes cloud software for managing businesses’ data, was acquired by New York-based Intralinks for an undisclosed sum. Verilume’s 13 employees will join Intralinks, which has 930 staff members, including 400 at an office in Waltham, MA, the Boston Business Journal reported.

—The FBI’s investigation last year into alleged attempts to “railroad” publication of a book about HubSpot’s office culture was launched in part because of allegations of e-mail hacking and “multiple failed attempts to manipulate and extort people,” according to FBI documents released to the Boston Globe. The investigation was closed without any charges being filed, but the scandal cost two executives their jobs (one was fired, and the other resigned before it could be determined if he should also be fired).

The book, “Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble,” comes out Tuesday. In it, author Dan Lyons chronicles his stint as a HubSpot marketing fellow. Here are the early takeaways from the Globe and the Boston Business Journal.